boston's public transportation system is amazing. do not buy a car for living in boston its a town made for people to walk around in. the T (the subway) will take you where ever you need to go. and if the subway doesnt go there, then you dont need to be there. if you take a car itll get snowed in, towed, and youll never be able to find a parking space. as far as places to live, south boston is cheaper like dorchester or even places into quincy and braintree, the college kids like to live in the city, but those places are pretty pricey. poorer students live in people's basement apartments. you just have to look around in ads and stuff.

I just got a place in Allston - it's about a 15 minute bus ride from the law school. Prices are definitely high in Boston but Allston, Brighton, and Somerville are do-able. I'm not a native though, this is just based on my informal Craigslist survey. =)

I found a 2 bed in somerville for 1200 a month + electricity and heat. I'm sharing it with someone else, so it's a little more doable. My impression is that the farther from cambridge you can live, the better off you are money wise. The public transportation is reliable and quick, and a prof of mine noted that bringing a bike gives you a lot more freedom in terms of where you can live. As far as looking for places, I have three words: craigslist craigslist craigslist. Great resource for finding reasonably priced housing in the area. A lot of the places are for rent by owner, so you don't have to deal with an agency or a realtor or anything. However, the listings on there turn over fast. Don't bother calling one unless you plan to be in boston for a viewing within 3 or 4 days, a week at absolute max. I got the whole housing thing done about 2 weeks ago. I called a bunch of places from wednesday to friday, flew out ther friday night, looked around and picked a place on saturday, finalized the lease on monday morning. It was the pull the band aid off quick approach, but it worked.Good Luck everybody! See you in a few weeks.

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ormachea

I found a REALLY nice place in Cambridge between the Porter and Harvard Square stops on the T for 1395. It was much newer than what I had seen and pretty spacious. I'm a 15 min walk from the law school and 10 min from Porter--it'll be even faster with my bike.